Colorful Great Whites
July 28, 2013 09:55

I just returned from our annual family vacation to Chatham, MA. In years gone by, we stayed at a great resort by the beach - Chatham Bars Inn - but as my sons have grown, and we needed more space, renting a house has been the best way to go. Now, I don't look for a house by the beach like you might think. . . I look for one in the small village area. I find its best so that they can walk to the penny candy store, ice cream shops, Veteran's field where they can catch a Chatham A's game, and the old Ben Franklin store . . . and I can walk to the small art galleries. And there are a LOT of galleries in Chatham to poke around in!
The art galleries in Chatham offer both high-end well known artists and local, lessor known but talented Cape artists. The majority of the shops show oil, acrylic, and watercolors - and of course offer giclee prints - but there are also some interesting stores to go in with fish rubbings, ink prints, carved pieces, glass, pottery, and The Artful Hand that includes all sorts of whimsical pieces for the home.
But what I really enjoyed this year was the Sharks in the Park. If you are not from the New England area, you may not have heard about the Great White sharks in the waters off Chatham - how they go after the exploding seal population that make Chatham their summer home, or how some marine biologists believe Chatham has become the Great Whites breeding ground -- but Chatham, in its artistic way, has welcomed the Great Whites . . . into their parks.
Sharks in the Park is a summer display that is moving from park to park, and set up in front of village businesses, showing the same four foot long cut out shark but uniquely painted by local artists. I should have taken more pictures, but I was instead caught up in walking through the shark groupings and admiring the work. I did, however, capture two quick 7 second videos and a shot in front of the Eldredge Library and the Cape Cod 5 Cent Savings Bank.
The 50+ sharks will be auctioned at a gala on August 1 at Chatham Bars Inn so there's only a few days left. Hope you enjoy the two small (and admittedly amateurish) video snippets I was able to capture for Twitter - along with the help of my niece who came down for a visit!
Shark video one and Shark video two